I was wishing you could have been with me this afternoon during a phone call with a college student’s parent. According to law I cannot reveal to a parent their child’s grades. So there I sat with his semester grades on my computer screen; I’m his advisor. Since I will not tell you who he is I can tell you his grade point average was near 0.5 on a 4.0 scale. His mom poured out her heart to me about how bad the school was. She had quite a litany of our errors. Passionately she told me how bright he was and how dull we were. The irony of this was one of his “F”s was from me. There was so much she didn’t know. First of all, she was right. He is bright. He rarely missed class. He was always on time. He engaged in class discussions. However, he never turned in one assignment nor showed up for the final exam. I kept saying, “Yes, Ma’am.”
Does any parent really know their child? We think we do. However, most parents would be horrified if they knew it all. Probably it is best the way it is. Do teachers know their students? We think we do. However, most of us would be wonderfully surprised if we knew more. Don’t you just love the idea that our heavenly Father really knows our kids and yet He is amazingly fond of them? They have no secrets from Him and yet they are the apple of His eye. That is so awesome. We are loved!
Written by Roger Bothwell on January 5, 2011
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org